Boyle's Law, formulated by Robert Boyle in 1662, is one of the fundamental gas laws in chemistry and physics that describes the behavior of ideal gases under constant temperature and varying pressure and volume conditions. It is stated as follows:
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"For a fixed amount of an ideal gas kept at a constant temperature, the pressure (P) is inversely proportional to its volume (V)."
Mathematically, Boyle's Law can be expressed by the equation:
P1V1 = P2V2
Where:
- P1 is the initial pressure of the gas
- V1 is the initial volume of the gas
- P2 is the final pressure of the gas
- V2 is the final volume of the gas
The law implies that if the pressure on a gas is increased, its volume will decrease, and if the pressure is decreased, its volume will increase, as long as the temperature remains constant. The product of the pressure and volume of an ideal gas is a constant (k) at a given temperature. The relationship can also be written as:
P ∝ 1/V
or
P = k / V
Where k is a constant for a given amount of gas at a constant temperature.
The law is derived from experimental observations and is a specific case of the ideal gas law, which is expressed as:
PV = nRT
where:
- P is the pressure of the gas
- V is the volume of the gas
- n is the number of moles of the gas
- R is the ideal gas constant
- T is the absolute temperature of the gas in Kelvin (K)
If the temperature is held constant, Boyle's Law can be derived from the ideal gas law by rearranging the formula to isolate P and V:
(P1/V1) = (P2/V2) = k
This law is useful in various real-world applications, such as understanding the workings of pumps, balloons, and the respiratory system. It is a part of the combined gas law, which combines Boyle's Law with Charles's Law (which relates volume and temperature at constant pressure) and Avogadro's Law (which relates volume and the number of moles at constant pressure and temperature).
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